1. Field
This relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner.
2. Background
In general, an air conditioner cools or heats a designated space, such as, for example, an indoor room, by performing heat-exchange between air from the space and low-temperature or high-temperature refrigerant as appropriate, and then discharging the heat-exchanged air into the space. Generally, an air conditioner includes a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and an indoor heat exchanger. Besides an air cooling and heating function, air conditioners may include various additional functions, such as, for example, air purification and filtering, dehumidification, and other such functions.
Types of air conditioners may include a split type air conditioner in which an outdoor unit and an indoor unit are separately installed, and an integrated type air conditioner in which an outdoor unit and an indoor unit are integrally provided. The split type air conditioner may minimize introduction of noise generated by a compressor in the outdoor unit into the designated space and may reduce a volume of the indoor unit installed in the space.
The indoor unit of the split type air conditioner may include a heat exchanger that performs a heat exchange between air and refrigerant supplied from the outdoor unit, and a fan that takes in and discharges the air. Therefore, the indoor unit includes a flow path to which the air is introduced into the indoor unit and discharged from the indoor unit, and a width of the indoor unit may be set to provide an appropriate flow path. Even though the air conditioner is mainly used when the weather requires the space to be cooled or heated, the indoor unit remains in the space. As such, the appearance of the indoor unit may designed to blend with or complement other indoor articles in the space. If the indoor unit is mounted on an interior wall, the indoor unit has a certain width and extends outward a certain distance into the space.
If the indoor unit protrudes excessively far into the room, even when the indoor unit is not operated, the indoor unit may detract from the utility and appearance of the space.